And Then There's You
by drizzlesky
Summary: It's the cliché girl-tutors-boy-and-they-perhaps-maybe-definitely-fall-in-love, but Rose and Scorpius were never ones for clichés.
1. Prologue

He strode towards the two gargoyles which stood by a grand oak door. As he passed them, a shower of blue and purple sparks cascaded onto his lean body. How annoying. Wincing, he pushed open the door. Piercing grey eyes shifted nervously under his bowler hat as he sank into the chair opposite the Headmistress of Hogwarts.

"Ah! Draco Malfoy! What a pleasure to see you again!" Professor McGonagall leaned forward on her elbows to look into the eyes of her ex-pupil. "I assume you are here because of Scorpius?"

Malfoy gave a curt nod. His face was sallow and the corners of his lips set into a permanent frown. The skin across his cheekbones had sagged, giving him and aged look, although he must have just been a shy over 39. Black eye circles had crept below his eyes – he was clearly troubled.

"Well, I have assumed you have seen his scores?" McGonagall chirped pleasantly.

"Even I didn't do that badly in my fourth year," Malfoy said hoarsely. "It's… it's unbelievable."

"It is believable and I am going to do something about it," McGonagall said robustly, tapping her quill against her inkbottle. Draco sank lower into his seat, feeling very much as if he were the one in trouble.

"You can help my son?"

"Perhaps," McGonagall stood, a mysterious smile on her face. Malfoy eyed her warily as she paced her office

"I am sure you are acquainted with Rose Weasley?" McGonagall said abruptly, turning on her heel. "Topped the year? Daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley?"

Malfoy winced, as if the very mention of the wizarding heroes had pierced him. He sat up straighter in his seat "Surely you aren't planning to…"

"Rose will make an excellent tutor for Scorpius," McGonagall finished hurriedly. "Sweet girl – I'm sure they'd get along."

Draco narrowed his eyes. "You're joking. Over my dead body."

"Mr Malfoy, Scorpius is my student and I do hope I don't have to kill you for Rose to tutor him. She's excellent at teaching and has coached many of my younger students. If you truly care for your son, I advise you to encourage him to study harder instead of spending all his time on the Quidditch Pitch," McGonagall said firmly. Something about her no-nonsense tone indicated to Draco that their discussion had ended. Resigned, he fell back against the chair, arms crossed.

"And when will he attend these, these… sessions?" he asked, pressing his fingers to his temple.

"That, I shall leave to Miss Potter," she said, smiling.

Malfoy hesitated, and then muttered something about telling Scorpius before school reopened.

"Excellent. How if you will excuse me, Draco, I have many things to prepare before the start of the new semester. Wish Scorpius a happy fifth year ahead for me, will you?" McGonagall said, waving the sullen Malfoy out of her office.

The door closed with a click, and Minerva McGonagall sighed. Personally, she had no idea whether this was a wise decision – in fact, she had never been so unsure about assigning tutors in her life.

Shuffling her papers, she closed her eyes and hoped for the best.


	2. Chapter 1

_A/N: So this is a little thing that I've had in my brain for close to 4 years, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have been so far :) _

**Chapter 2**

"I've got Quidditch practice," he said, leaning his Firebolt against the library table with one hand and tossing a Snitch in the other. Rose started from where she had been reading a book. "Make it quick."

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, put that away NOW," Rose hissed. She closed her book and crossed her arms, huffing. "You think I've got nothing better to do than tutor a slime like you?"

"Obviously. Aw, is Little Rose getting lonely?" Scorpius threw the Snitch into his bag. Narrowing his dull eyes, he folded his arms and leaned forward. "I'm flattered, but frankly you're dumb, and I've got better things to do."

Rose looked scandalized. "Don't you think I'm the one wasting my precious time? No tuition in the world could pull up these grades." She glared at him icily and whipped out a piece of parchment.

"Defence against the Dark Arts – D. Charms – T. Herbology – P. Potions – T. Arithmancy – T. History of Magic – D. Care of Magical Creatures – E. Transfiguration – M, for "Moldy". Really? They invented that just for you?"

Scorpius felt his cheeks reddening. "That's private property, how did you get that?" he snapped.

"I have my sources," she said loftily. "Let's start with Transfiguration, shall we, since you're ridiculously hopeless at it."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and leaned back against the chair. He differed from his father only in his eyes—although they were the same shade of grey, his father's seemed to pierce like lightning, whereas his sort of faded against the sharper features of his face, almost softer. Scorpius did not speak with his father's usual swagger, although he often spoke with scorn and contempt.

He was also a Slytherin who spent his days skipping class, terrorizing the innocent of the school and being a general moron.

To Rose, that made Scorpius her mortal enemy.

She took out her Transfiguration notes, scanning through them quickly and then placing a quill on the table.

"Transfigure this into a parchment," she instructed.

Scorpius snorted. "What for? Got tons in my bag."

"Just do it."

He glared at her, and then realizing there was no point in arguing, raised his wand tentatively. He was just about to cast the charm when Rose lunged forwards and grabbed his arm.

"Not THAT way! You're supposed to move your hand over the quill twice," she directed Scorpius' wand in a flourish of complicated movements. A shower of golden sparks bathed the quill in a dazzling, blinding light, causing the quill to turn into a roll of parchment.

Scorpius, who had been momentarily stunned, wrenched his arm free of her grasp. He rubbed at the place her hand had touched his as if it had burnt him. "I can do it without your help," he snarled.

"Yeah, and so can a first year," she retorted hotly. "Turn it back into a quill—I need it."

Scorpius scowled, then moving a safe distance away from Rose, drew his wand and prepared to do the charm once again. He tried replicating Rose's complicated hand movements, but to no avail. He tried again. No luck.

"Merlin dammit!" he sliced his wand through the air in his fury, sending black sparks flying at the parchment. The parchment smoldered and curled, leaving ashes on the table.

"Pathetic. I asked you to turn it into a quill, not for Merlin to curse it into oblivion." Rose cleared the mess with a wave of her hand. "You owe me a quill."

Scorpius' face burned red hot. "Why? You should have seen it coming, asking me to transfigure a quill."

"It's only fair. Anyway, you've got to concentrate really hard on the object you want to transfigure, not what you want the object to transfigure into. Here are instructions for the hand movements." Rose handed him a slip of parchment, on which was a detailed diagram annotated with tips and explanations. Scorpius glanced at it, felt his head spin, and then gingerly placed it on the table.

"On to Defence. That hex you performed on Lucifer yesterday, terribly off. You should know never to mix a Jelly-leg curse with a Fumunculus—terrible tentacle-like sprouts grow." Rose spoke calmly, but it was obvious she was only suppressing her rage. Breathing heavily, she clenched her fists tight.

Scorpius was getting seriously irritated. "Are you here to tutor me or not? What I do or don't do is my business." he muttered.

"_Your_ business?! What gives you the right to go around hexing people is that your business? Lucifer was merely standing there, you didn't have to hex him at all!" Rose cried.

"I don't know okay he was annoying!"

"_You don't know why you sent him to the Hospital Wing?"_

"I'll deal with him whatever way I want to!"

"_You don't have the right to go around hexing people_! Just because you're a fat-headed Quidditch hero…"

"_I am _not_ a fat-headed Quidditch hero_!"

"STUDENTS!"

Rose and Scorpius whipped around to see Madam Lessiere glaring at them, seething. They were face-to-face, wands pointing at each other's chests. They quickly withdrew, still throwing scathing looks at each other.

"I will not tolerate fighting in this library! Ms Potter, you should be ashamed of yourself! And Mr Malfoy! Haven't you had enough detentions already?"

Rose blushed crimson red as Madame Lessiere stalked away, still eyeing then warily. Scorpius, however, remained impassive. Throwing his things into his bag, he snatched his Firebolt and strode away, leaving Rose swearing in his wake.


End file.
